Dur-Dur Band International was just hitting its stride in the late 1980s when Somalia’s civil war erupted, kicking off three decades of unrest and disruption and suppression of all the arts. Somalis were forbidden to sing, to dance, even to gather in groups during this bleak period. Xabiib Sharaabi, the “Somali King of Pop,” decamped to Sweden and the rest of the band—eight musicians including three singers—scattered. And then, in 2019, Dur-Dur Band’s inimitable concoction of jazz, disco and Somali pentatonic-scales groove rang out again in Berlin. This recording captures that joyous reunion.
This album’s slinking, strutting jazz-inflected tones will remind of Ethio-jazz, except instead of horns, they are carried by wheedling electric keyboards, stinging multi-guitar syncopations and the keening, heartbroken crooning of three displaced singers. There’s more dance in these cuts, too, and less cerebral improvisation. They’re meant to move hips and butts as much as minds, though there’s plenty for the brain and spirit in these cuts as well. The back-slanting, caravan-style rhythms of bass-heavy “Heeyaa” might even remind you of reggae though Dur-Dur Band’s principals will tell you that they executed these beats first, long before they washed up on Jamaica’s white sanded shores.
Consider, for instance, the synth-pulsing, sci-fi intro of “Hasha Geel,” leading into desert echoing, keening vocals. It’s a potent mix of the future and the primal past, of the spiritual yearning and the body moving hedonism that music can carry (but seldom at the same time). Or turn, perhaps, to “Love My Love,” with its eerie drifts of saxophone, its heady chug of rhythmic complication, its slippery non-western melody, sung high, by a woman who urges love, in spite of everything. Dip into the strident funk of “Jija Love,” where trebly guitar lines ping off the viscous foundation of bass, and everything jitters except the singer, whose long vibrato-laced tones waft out over the agitation.
What gives this performance especial poignance is that it was kept silent for so long, and could have entirely slipped into obscurity. Things are still not very good in Somalia, but here, at least the music, continues in joy.
Für die wunderbaren Menschen von Berlin Sessions haben unsere drei Lieblings-Jungs aus Köln, Xul Zolar, ihre Synthies und anderen Frickel-Maschinchen im Band-Bus gelassen und ihren Song "Hex" akustisch performt. Warum wir die schöne Session vom Dockville Festival erst jetzt zu sehen bekommen? Keine Ahnung, aber wir freuen uns trotzdem 'nen Ast ab.
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